Mowing-machine.



- nu. 673,059. Patented luly 9., |901.

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' (Application med Feb. 2, 1899.) I (No Ilodel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

.IOHN F. STEWARD, OF- CHICAGO, ILLINOISA MowlNe-MAo-HINE.

SPEGFICATIN forming part of Letters'Patent No. 678,059, dated July 9, 1901.l

Application tiled February 2, 1899. Serial No. 704.259. (No model.)

To all whom. il? may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. STEWARD, a cili- Zen of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mowing-Machines; and .I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to a wellknown type of mowing-machine, and more especially to those parts of the machine which form the subject of the prior patent granted to me February 4, 1896, No. 554,010. In respect of this patent the present improvements have been designed with a view to e'nabling the driver to throw the cutter crankshaft into and out of gear with the countershaft by means of his foot without leaving his seat and without having to stoop over and reach down to the position where the clutchshipping parts are necessarily located.

With this particular object'in viewv the present improvements will be fully understood from the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of so much of a mowing-machine as is necessary to illustrate the present improvements. Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective View of a detail of the foot-operated lever for engaging the countershaft in either of the positions to which it may be shifted. Fig. 3 is an'enlarged perspective view of a portion of the tongue of the machine, together with the pivoted bellcrank and its connections, and also showing the adjustable devices, by means of whichV the position of the hand-lever is adjusted.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of the countershaft and the immediate devices for moving it endwise to disengage the gearing between the same and the crank-shaft.

Referring to the views, the numeral 1 denotes the tongue of the machine, and 2 the bell-crank, which is pivoted at one of its angles upon a stud 3, projecting from the side of a bracket 4, that is secured tosaid tongue by means of a bolt 5. The counterbalancespring .I is connected to said bell-crank, and a connecting-rod 6 is employed, through the Imedium of which the bell-crank is operated yfrom the foot-lever' 7. The gag-lever'M is 'connected to the bell-crankherein by means of a chain 8, and the hand-lever is pivoted, so

,that the driver need not stoop to reach it, and .is located forward of the foot-lever on the tongue, so that the driver reaches forward and pulls backward on it to lift the cutterbar in opposition to the push on the foot-lever, whereby the concurrent use of the two vlevers is greatly facilitated. The position I vhave selectedis on the bell-crank, and I thereby not only get the lever as much as possible out yof the way, but make it practicallya part of the bell-crank itself, and I am enabled by this arrangement to provide for adjusting the lever to different angles with respect to the lever withouty altering the adjustment of any of the other parts. g

Thejconnection or attachment of the handlever to the bell-crank is made by means ofa circular boss 9, cast or otherwise formed on the outer side of the bell-crank a little in front `of the pivot on which the crank swings. In the center of this boss is an opening 12, through which the bolt 17 passes to clamp the lever to the bell-crank, and around the bolthole a series of radial teeth or serrationsli f5 are formed.l The lever 13 is conveniently made separate from and bolted to its stock or butt 15, .which .is provided with a circular hub-like portion 14 at its end corresponding to the boss on the bell-crank. Centrally of this hub there is an opening to receive the bolt 17, which clamps the lever to the bellcrank, and around the opening on the inner face of the hub there are radial teeth or ser-` rations 16, corresponding in shape, location, and arrangement with those on the boss of the bell-crank. From this description and illustration the manner of securing the handlever to the bell-crank will be readily understood and its capability for Various adjustments appreciated without further explanation. In Fig. 1 three adjustments of the lever are indicated, and of course it may be set in any intermediate position, all that is necessary being to loosen the bolt 17 sufficiently IOO for the teeth 11 and 16 to slip past one an' other and without detaching the lever, from the bell-crank set it at any desired angle, after which the bolt is tightened up again and the lever held as tightly as though actually integral with the bell-crank by the interlocking of the two sets of radial serrations.

In the operation of the machine the bellcrank is constantly vibrating, and of course the hand-lever must move with it. If the lever were located at the pivot of the bell-crank and adjustable around it, its upper end would vibrate hack and forth in a nearly horizontal plane in front of the driver; but by attaching the lever to the bell-crank eccentrically to and in front of its axis it has a bodily upand-down movem ent-,with very little fore-andaft swing.

The arrangement which I have devised for making the clutching mechanism of my patent of vFebruary 4, 1896, operable by the foot is as follows: The counter-shaft 20, the gearing 30 and 31, and the cam-groove 28 in the shaft-hex 21 are the same as in the patent, as are also the pin 29 on the shaft, the catch 25 on the lever 22, and the stops or shoulders 26 and 27, against which the catch 25 engages when the lever 22 is in one or the other of its positions. So, also, is the lever herein, when considered generically, the same as that ot' the patent and has the same pivoted connection 23 with the shaft and the same spring 24 to keep the catch 25 normally engaged with the stops or shoulders. The patented lever, however, is required to be operated by hand, and the present improvement in this respect consists in the particular construction of the lever whereby I adapt it to be operated entirely by the foot of the driver when in his seat. To this end I provide the lower end of the lever with an extension 40, which projects rearward] y and downwardly from the pivoted portion, and at the extreme end of the extension ithasalaterally-projectingfootpiece41,which extends parallel with the counter-shaft and at a right angle to the pivot of the lever to a point grassward beyond the pivot. When the gears 30 and 31 are in mesh, the -lever 22 and its foot 11 stand in the position shown in Fig. l and in full lines in Fig. 2. In order to throw the parts out of gear, the driver has only to press his foot on the extension 41. The first effect of this action is to swing the lever latl erallyT on its pivot 23 until the catch 25 is released from the shoulder 26, and further pressure on the footpiece has the effect of rocking the shaft 20 and causing its pin 29 to move around in the spiral cam-groove 28, which shifts the shaft longitudinally grassward and `moves the wheel 30 out of gear with the pinion 31. When the driver desires to throw the parts into gear again, he has only to hook his toe under the lever 22, (for which purpose it is conveniently formed with a knob 45,) press it slightly outward to disengage the catch 25 from the shoulder 27, and then push or throw it over toward the front with his foot. The positions and movements of the lever are clearly indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, from which the action will be readily understood when read in connection with the above description.

lVhat I claim, and desire to secure, is

1. In a mower, the combination of an end wise-moving shaft, a lever pivoted at right angles thereon for rocking the same, a spring reacting between the lever and the shaft and holding said lever normally locked in engagement with a fixed stop or shoulder, and an angular footpiece projecting parallel with the shaft from an aim of the lever and extending on the other side of its pivot from said stop, whereby a single movement unlocks the lever and shifts its position.

2. In a mower, the combination of the counter-shaft 20, its bearing 21, the stop-shoulders 26, 27, the pin 29 projecting from the shaft and the cam-groove 2S in which said pin works, the level' 22 pivoted transversely on said shaft and provided with the catch 25 on one side of its pivot, the arm 4-0, and the footpiece 41 extending from the arm on the other side of the levers pivot, and the spring 24 reacting between the shaft and the lever and holding the catch normally engaged with either of the stops or shoulders on the bearing 21.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN F. STEWARD.

IVitnesses:

MARVIN CRAMER, F. A. FULTON. 

